MSNBC

Dan Abrams is the host of MSNBC's "Live with Dan Abrams," which airs Mondays thru Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST. He is also the chief legal correspondent for NBC News and general manager of MSNBC. Abrams began his career at NBC Sports in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics and Wimbledon. His primary duties included making coffee runs, icing sodas, and keeping certain anchor positions dust-free. Nearly a decade later, Abrams joined NBC News as a general assignment correspondent in 1997 and quickly became a regular contributor to "NBC Nightly News," "Today," and "Dateline NBC." Abrams has reported on all of the highest-profile cases of the past decade, including the Bush v. Gore post-election battles, President Clinton impeachment trial, Scott Peterson trial, Oklahoma City bombing trial, and Michael Jackson trial. More recently, he has covered legal issues associated with the war on terror and federal prosecutor firings. Prior to joining NBC News, Abrams served as an anchor and reporter for Court TV. In that capacity he covered the O.J. Simpson criminal and civil trials from Los Angeles, the International War Crimes Tribunal from The Netherlands, and the assisted-suicide trials of Dr. Kevorkian from Michigan. He also worked as an NBC News consultant from 1995 to 1997. An accomplished writer, Abrams has had articles published in, among others: The New York Times, The American Lawyer, and the Yale Law and Policy Review. He also writes a monthly legal column for Men's Health magazine. A 1988 alumnus of Duke University, Abrams graduated cum laude with a B.A. in political science. He received his law degree from Columbia University in 1992. He currently resides in New York City.

Michael Kysar has been conductor of The Boeing Employees Choir since 1982, conducting over 500 performances around the world, including some of the finest concert halls such as cathA drale Sainte-Pierre in Nantes, France; the York Guild Hall in England; and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Countries where The Boeing Choir has presented concerts: England, Wales, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and of course, the U.S. For fifteen years, he performed over 100 duet recitals with partner Sherry Meinert as A Gift of Song, and taught private voice lessons for twenty years. His students have performed on Broadway, at the Munich State Opera, and one student even gave voice lessons to Bill Gates. Kysar spent nine years teaching junior and senior high school music in the Highline district near Seattle. In a junior high of 600 students, 300 of them were in his music classes, which included concert band, stage band, orchestra, and three choral groups.A The Eighth Grade Chorus hadA 95 singers, and almost half of them were boys. In the 1970s, he was a pioneer in publishing and promoting vocal jazz music, and in the 1990s, was a pioneer in publishing music on the Internet. He is the founder of the Sing for Life! festivals where young people discover how music can enrich their lives over a lifetime, and how "old people" can be wonderful performers and thoroughly enjoy life and music. He has presented his seminar on mental discipline for performers more than 75 times around the U.S. and Canada for universities, professional organizations, teachers, and high schools. During nine years as a full time employee atA Microsoft, he served as instructional designer, technical writer, team lead, and program manager, including being the first technical program manager for the birth of MSNBC on the Internet, and attempted to retire in 1996. Since 2003, he has frequently returned to Microsoft as a consultant, program manager, technical writer, or software designer and developer. He holds Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and Master of Education in Voice degrees from Central Washington University.

Alex Johnson is senior producer for NBC News projects at MSNBC.com. He has been a writer and editor for The Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly, the Knight-Ridder/Tribune Washington service and The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has taught writing and editing at the University of South Carolina and Johnson C. Smith University. In addition to serving as education chair, Alex is the co-chair of the chapter's monthly Seattle press club gatherings.

Alex Witt is an anchor and correspondent for MSNBC. Witt serves as anchor for "MSNBC Live Saturday" and "MSNBC Live Sunday" as well as anchor and correspondent on "MSNBC Live" during the week. She has been with the network since 1999.

An associate at Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP Carmen Victoria St. George's principal practice areas are mass and class tort litigation. Since joining LPK, Carmen has worked on medical malpractice cases, as well as asbestos and pharmaceutical litigation. Moreover, she has successfully tried civil and criminal cases in both the state and federal courts of New York. Notably, Carmen was part of a team of attorneys that settled an employment discrimination lawsuit brought by thousands of African American and Latino Police Officers against the New York City Police Department. Currently, Carmen is a Commissioner for the Nassau County Commission on Human Rights. Serving with fourteen other Commissioners, she works to insure that people, regardless of sex, ethnicity, and creed are protected from discriminatory practices in employment, housing, and education. Prior to joining the firm, Carmen worked for six years as an Assistant District Attorney with the Queens County District Attorney's Office. There, Carmen gained extensive experience by trying well over fifty felony and misdemeanor criminal cases to verdict. In 1993, Carmen earned her Bachelor of Science degree from St. John's University and her law degree from Fordham University in 1997. She is admitted to practice law in the state courts of New York and New Jersey as well as in the Southern and Eastern District federal courts of New York. Carmen is of Greek and Puerto-Rican descent. She is fluent in both Spanish and Greek, and handles LPK's Greek-based representation. She has been recognized by The National Herald for her positive involvement with the Greek-American community. A member of the Maritime Lawyers Association, the New York Trial Lawyer's Association, the Nassau County Bar Association, and the Women's Bar Association, Carmen is also a trial court commentator for Court Television News, Fox News, and MSNBC.

Edward Deitch has produced and managed network news for more than 20 years. Most recently, he was a senior producer and editor for the "NBC Nightly News" with Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw. While at NBC he won a duPont-Columbia Award and two national news Emmy Awards and was nominated for 12 others. Edward was a writer at CBS News in television and radio, a reporter for United Press International, and began his career at The New York Times. Beyond news, he is the wine critic for MSNBC.com and his weekly column received the James Beard Foundation Award for multimedia writing in 2007. He holds a bachelor's degree from Columbia University's Columbia College.

Eve Tahmincioglu has been writing about business for nearly two decades and her stories have appeared in a host of publications including the New York Times, Time, Salon.com, and BusinessWeek. She is also a columnist for MSNBC.com where she writes the weekly "Your Career" column. From labor strife in the auto industry to buying funerals online, you never know what topic she'll tackle next. Her specialties include workplace issues, the small business and entrepreneurial world, and leadership, including interviews with some of the biggest names in Corporate America.

Jay's program is a fast, irreverent, insightful performance of the issues of the moment; what happened today, what it really means, and what will happen tomorrow. Exceptionally hot topics, provocative conversation from a radical independent - including call-ins from The Best and Brightest (his audience members) - seasoned with slamming music; laugh, learn, squirm, and scream with the next wave of radio talk: Generation J. Jay, a native of New York, graduated from Vassar College and pursued a masters degree in Journalism at Boston University. He is a veteran national political operative who has advised campaigns across the country for U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Governor, and President. Severin is a former award-winning columnist for MSNBC.com, Political Analyst for MSNBC; his comments on politics and media have appeared in the nation's major newspapers, magazines, and network and cable television, as well as media abroad. A talk-show host since 1999, Jay Severin was in 2005 nominated for radio's highest honor, the Marconi Award as Radio Personality of the Year. His chief off-radio passion is mountain climbing, for which he makes frequent trips to the American Rockies and Iceland. Jay Severin resides on Boston's North Shore with his beloved Newfoundlands, with whom he daily engages their shared love for civics and drool, not necessarily in that order.

Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. is an Emmy-winning executive producer of NBC's "The West Wing." The "West Wing" episode he co-wrote on the death penalty won the 2000 Humanitas Prize for writing that "communicate(s) those values which most enrich the human person." Mr. O'Donnell was also the creator and executive producer of "Mister Sterling," NBC's Washington-based drama set in the U.S. Senate. Mr. O'Donnell is also MSNBC's senior political analyst and a panelist on "The McLaughlin Group." During the election year 2000, Mr. O'Donnell was a contributing editor of New York Magazine with a column on national politics. From 1993 through 1995, Mr. O'Donnell was the Democratic chief of staff of the United States Senate Committee on Finance. In 1992, Mr. O'Donnell was chief of staff of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. From 1989 until 1992, Mr. O'Donnell served as senior advisor to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He began his professional association with Senator Moynihan as director of communications in the Senator's 1988 re-election campaign. A writer prior to entering politics and government, Mr. O'Donnell published the book Deadly Force (1983), which was adapted as a CBS movie in 1986. He has written essays and articles for several publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, People, Spy, and Boston Magazine. Mr. O'Donnell has also appeared on "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," "Nightline," "Charlie Rose" and several other programs.

Marc Carlos is a partner and co-founder of Bardsley and Carlos LLP. Mr. Carlos has been practicing criminal law since 1987. He has been a member of both the Los Angeles and the San Diego County Public Defender's office where he was a senior trial deputy focusing primarily on serious felony trials. Mr. Carlos has tried over 140 jury trials and represented thousands of clients in criminal matters. He has tried a variety of complex criminal matters ranging from fraud to murder, including death penalty cases. Mr. Carlos has handled a large number of high profile cases including two trials broadcast nationally on COURT TV. Mr. Carlos is also a frequent contributor as an expert legal analyst for MSNBC, COURT TV, FOX NEWS, PBS and numerous broadcast news and radio stations. Mr. Carlos has been interviewed regarding criminal expertise and his cases on the TODAY SHOW, DATELINE NBC, and SIXTY MINUTES. One of his murder cases has been the subject of a nationally syndicated documentary, What Ever Happened To Baby Jasmine? Another of his murder cases is the subject of a published book, Living Between Danger and Love: The Limits of Choice by Dr. Kathleen Jones (Rutgers University Press, 2000). Mr. Carlos has been a featured MCLE lecturer in homicide defense as well as a trial skills instructor and trainer at the San Diego County Public Defenders Office and the California Public Defender's Association. Mr. Carlos has also lectured on diminished actuality and psychological defenses as well as shaken baby syndrome. His current practice includes federal and state complex criminal matters, narcotics, white collar defense, and select civil rights litigation. Mr. Carlos is licensed to practice in all the courts of the State of California, the Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, including the Central and Southern District of the United States District Court. Mr. Carlos is also fluent in Spanish. Marc Carlos has been rated "AV ," the highest possible rating by Martindale-Hubbell in determining an attorney's legal ability, expertise, experience, integrity and overall professional excellence. This rating represents the highest level of criminal trial practice and status in the legal community. Mr. Carlos is also a Board Certified Criminal Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and the California Board of Legal Specialization. The National Board of Trial Advocacy is accredited by the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization to certify attorneys as specialists in the areas of civil, criminal, and family law trial advocacy. Mr. Carlos is also retained by attorneys as a an expert witness in criminal defense matters and has testified as an expert in the United States District Court.

Mike Barnicle is an award-winning writer and media personality. He is a political analyst for MSNBC and a frequent contributor, and occasional guest host, on the network's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and "Morning Joe." Barnicle can also been seen regularly on NBC's "Today Show." A veteran print and broadcast journalist, he has written more than 4,000 columns collectively for the Boston Herald, New York Daily News, and The Boston Globe, where he rose to prominence with his biting, satirical, and at times, heart-wrenching columns that closely followed the triumphs, travails and ambitions of Boston's working and middle classes.

Patrick J. Buchanan has been a senior advisor to three American Presidents. From 1966 through 1974, he was confidant and assistant to Richard Nixon. In 1974, he served as assistant to Gerald Ford. From 1985 to 1987, he was White House Communications Director for Ronald Reagan. In December 1991, Pat Buchanan challenged President George Bush for the 1992 Republican presidential nomination. He ran in 33 state primaries, receiving 3 million Republican primary votes. Pat Buchanan's professional career began in 1962 when, at age 23, he was chosen as the youngest editorial writer on a major newspaper in the United States, the St. Louis Globe Democrat. His political career began three years later, when he signed on as the first full-time staffer in what would later be called "The Resurrection of Richard Nixon." During his eight White House years, Mr. Buchanan traveled with President Nixon as one of the 15 member official delegation to open up the People's Republic of China, and he was present at Mr. Nixon's final Moscow-Yalta summit in the summer of 1974. Pat Buchanan was with President Reagan at both his first and second summits with Mikhail Gorbachev, at Geneva and Reykjavik. Buchanan has written six books, including the New York Times best-seller, A Republic Not an Empire, and a Washington Post bestseller about growing up in the nation's capital, Right From the Beginning. His newest book, Death of the West, was released at the end of 2001. An honors graduate in English and Philosophy from Georgetown University, Pat Buchanan received his master's degree from the Columbia School of Journalism in New York in 1962. His articles have appeared in publications ranging from Human Events and National Review to the Nation and Rolling Stone. He has been a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist co-host of CNN's "Crossfire" and host of Mutual Radio's "Buchanan & Co."

Patrick G. Eddington was a military imagery analyst at the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center for almost nine years. He received numerous accolades for his analytical work, including letters of commendation from the Joint Special Operations Command, the Joint Warfare Analysis Center and the CIA's Office of Military Affairs. During his tenure at CIA, Eddington worked a wide range of intelligence issues. His analytical assignments included monitoring the break-up of the former Soviet Union; providing military assessments to policy makers on Iraqi and Iranian conventional forces; and coordinating the CIA's military targeting support to NATO during Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia in 1995. Eddington received his undergraduate degree in International Affairs from Southwest Missouri State University in 1985. While at the CIA, Eddington took a one-year sabbatical to attend Georgetown University, earning a master's degree in National Security Studies. Eddington spent eleven years in the U.S. Army Reserve and the National Guard in both enlisted and commissioned service. Eddington's opinion pieces have appeared in a number of publications, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Army Times, among others. Eddington is a frequent commentator on national security issues for the Fox News Channel, MSNBC, SKYNews, CNN, and other domestic and international television networks. His first book, Gassed in the Gulf, was featured on the September 20, 1997 edition of CSPAN's "About Books" program. He and his wife Robin live in Alexandria, Virginia with their three Border Collies/mixes, Jack, Coco, and Jib.

Raghida Dergham is Columnist and Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for the London-based Al Hayat, the leading independent Arabic daily, since 1989. She writes a regular weekly strategic column on International Political Affairs. Ms. Dergham is also a Political Analyst for NBC, MSNBC and the Arab satellite LBC. She is a Contributing Editor for L A Times Syndicate Global Viewpoint and has contributed to: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune and Newsweek Magazine. Ms. Dergham was featured in PBS Documentary "Caught in The Crossfire." She is quoted in several books in many languages. As one of the few women political commentators, Ms. Dergham has been a frequent guest PBS's "Charlie Rose? and "The News Hour", CNN, FOX, "ABC, CBS, Canada's CBC, Al-Jazeera as well as a radio guest on NPR and the BBC. A Lebanese-born American Citizen, Ms. Dergham is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations. She was co-chair of the Council's 1997 conference: "In the National Interest: Does diversity make a difference?? She serves on the Board of the International Women's Media Foundation, and has served on the Advisory Council of Princeton University's Institute for Transregional Studies of the contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. She was also a member of the Women's Foreign Policy Group. Ms. Dergham is in SUNY's Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Alumna and has received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 2003. Dr. Dergham is a frequent participant in Policy conferences and is a regular participant in The World Economic Forum at Davos and WEF at the Dead Sea. She addressed UN General Assembly on the World Press Freedom Day when President of The United Nations Correspondents Association for 1997 and was appointed to the Task Force on the Reorientation of Public Information by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. She moderated a roundtable of 8 Presidents and Prime Ministers for UNCTAD at Bangkok in 1991. Ms Dergham served as Chairman of the Dag Hammarskjold Fund Board in 2005. She also served as a Juror on the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Novartis Prize for Excellence in International Journalism. In addition to covering the crucial American-Soviet Summits in the 80s and the 27th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, Ms Dergham has done exclusive Interviews with over 20 Statesmen including: Jordan's King Abdallah and the late King Hussein; Pakistan?s President Parviz Musharref, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak; Palestinian Presidents Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat; Iraq?s Jalal Talabani, Yemen's President Abdallah Saleh; Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir; Russia's President Boris Yeltsin, and Lebanon?s PM Fouad Siniora.

Tim Russert is the Managing Editor and Moderator of Meet the Press, aired exclusively by Westwood One on Sundays at 12noon ET with rebroadcasts at 3PM ET and 6PM ET. Since joining Meet The Press in December 1991, the program has become the most watched Sunday morning interview program in America and the most quoted news program in the world. Now in its 57th year, Meet the Press is the longest-running program in the history of television. Russert has interviewed every major figure on the American political scene. Russert also serves as the political analyst for NBC Nightly News and the Today Program and anchors The Tim Russert Show, a weekly interview program on CNBC. He is also a contributing anchor for MSNBC and serves as senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News. Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of the Today program from Rome, negotiating and arranging an appearance by Pope John Paul II, a first for American television. In 1986 and 1987 Russert led NBC News weeklong broadcasts from South America, Australia and China He has received twenty-nine honorary doctorate degrees from American colleges and universities and has lectured at the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Reagan Presidential Libraries.

As MSNBC.com's science editor, Alan Boyle runs a virtual curiosity shop of the physical sciences and space exploration, plus paleontology, archaeology and other ologies that strike his fancy. Since joining MSNBC.com in 1996, Boyle has won awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Association of Science Writers, the Pirelli Relativity Challenge and the CMU Cybersecurity Journalism Awards program. He is a contributor to A Field Guide for Science Writers, the president of the Northwest Science Writers Association, the blogger behind Cosmic Log, and an occasional talking head on the MSNBC cable channel. During his 29 years of daily journalism in Cincinnati, Spokane and Seattle, he's survived a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, a total solar eclipse and an earthquake. He has faith he'll survive the Internet as well.

Daryl is the daily editorial cartoonist for MSNBC.com. With more than 3 million regular, unique users each month, Daryl's editorial cartoon site with Microsoft (www.cagle.com) is the most popular cartoon Web site, of any kind, on the Internet. It is also the most widely used education site in social studies classrooms around the world. For the past 30 years, Daryl has been one of America's most prolific cartoonists. Raised in California, Daryl went to college at UC Santa Barbara, then moved to New York City where he worked for 10 years with Jim Henson's Muppets, illustrating scores of books, magazines, calendars and all manner of products. In 2001, Daryl started a new syndicate, Cagle Cartoons, Inc. (www.caglecartoons.com), which distributes the cartoons of 46 editorial cartoonists and columnists to more than 800 newspapers in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Daryl is a past president of the National Cartoonists Society. He has been married to his charming wife, Peg, for 22 years and has two lovely kids, Susan and Michael.